Almonte256

Can anyone tell me the time that the Jewel of the Seas allows disembarking to begin once returning to Civitavecchia? My husband and I have an 11:45 flight out of FCO to Canada and we were just wondering how much time to allow ourselves and what time we should arrange the shuttle for.

Thanks very much

Without a doubt, Bermuda is my favorite island to cruise to. The thrill of being able to explore the island during your 2 or 3 day visit is such a wonderful change from the one day island stops, where you are always concerned with being back to the ship on time. That being said, 3 days is still never enough time and it is always sad to sail away from her. We have been going to Bermuda almost annually for the past 6 or 7 years now (since I turned 40) and always can't wait to return. the people are gracious and polite, and always willing to assist us cruisers. I can honestly say that we have never had an uncomfortable encounter during any of our visits to the island.

With regards to things to see or do, there is the beautiful downtowns of both Hamilton and St. Georges, the Gibb's Lighthouse, the Crystal Caves and so much more. I know not everyone agrees, but we always rent a scooter from Oleanders at the dockyard and we always find new and interesting places to visit when we wander the island. Lunch at the Swizzell Inn is always on our must do list (one day at the East end site and the other day at the West end site) I must say though, that my husband is an experienced rider and for some, the traffic conditions (not so much fast, but heavy at times) along with driving on the opposite side of the road, can be cause for concern if you are not all that comfortable with being on a bike. Don't worry about getting lost, I don't think you could if you tried and the map provided by the rental shop is more than enough. The Flats where the aquarium is located is also another annual stop for us, just to take in the scenery (which is never ending in Bermuda).

I you go, please don't confine yourself to the beaches as there is so much that you would be missing.

GoPackFan

My husband and I were also on this sailing - our first for Windstar, and had a wonderful time. Four of us in our group actually did go the The Baths on our own. After getting off the tender at the marina, there was a taxi there that was going to the baths for $4 per person and the fee to get into the baths was $3 per person. We went first thing in the morning and basically had The Baths to ourselves. I do however believe that our tendering into the Spanish Town Marina was not the norm, as there is a pier at the Fisherman's Cove Beach Club and that is where I understand the Windsurf tenders normally go. Our sea conditions were apparently a little rougher that day which resulted in the change. For those going directly to the BBQ, they were taxied/bussed directly there which was only about 1-2 min away.

The question one has to ask (for which NCL would most likely not answer) is what did NCL do with my OBC purchase money back in July of 2015 for a cruise we are taking this March 2016? If they converted over the funds for our onboard credit purchase and place it in a US trust account, then they were more than happy to have me as a client at the spread between the Canadian dollar vs. the US dollar at the time of purchase.

I run my own business and quite often pre bill customers for yearend purchases and deliver the job several months later. This is a gamble I take as most of my supplies are purchased in US funds. The reality is that I have my customers cash in my bank and this often helps out with cash flow. I may not make as big of a profit on these orders should the US dollar gain strength but I have kept my clients from spending their money with my competition.

If you’re not happy with the policies of NCL (and the lack of customer service) the choice is simple, spend your vacation money elsewhere. The market will correct and NCL will eventually discount their rates.

Now if anybody follows the currency market, you will know that the Canadian dollar has been in a downward spiral for a while (with the slight exception over the past couple of weeks) If NCL converted my funds into US currency and are now converting it back to Canadian funds and refunding my additional $1000.00 (as I purchased $2000.00 in total) they have probably made a return on my money of @ 12-15 %,

We had also prepaid our DSC at $1.11....... what’s next, will NCL tell me that they will cancel this purchase and have my credit card charged on the last day of my March cruise at $1.41 (or whatever the rate will be on that day)

What NCL has done with my OBC would be like my bank refusing to hand over the cash from my US bank account that I purchased a couple of years back at $1.05 and informing me that they will offer it today at $1.41. NCL agreed to sell me this money back in July of 2015, they should honour the decision to do so.

We are a family of four and have achieved Platinum status with NCL over the past five years and cruise two to three times a year with NCL. Cruise lines often offer “Residency Rates” for Canadians. Check out the discounts that Celebrity Cruise Lines are now offering. We have cruised from Manhattan once a year to Bermuda over the past 5 years but have just booked an August 2016 cruise with Celebrity.

If you are not satisfied with NCL, call their Customer Relations number 1-866-625-1164, they generally don’t listen, but one day they may!

Karysa,

Would you be able to tell me the name of the catamaran trip that you took? My husband and I will be spending a week in St. Martin in January and I have been looking for a catamaran day sail to St. Barths. I had only found one, but they only did that particular trip on Wednesdays, and unfortunately, we are heading to spend a few days in Anguilla on the Wednesday, so I was hoping for another option.

Thanks so much

Kris

Carol, you are always such a wealth of knowledge when it comes to New York concerns. My husband and I are thinking of parking at the Port Imperial garage and were wondering if you could explain how it works. I have emailed them, but have not gotten a response. Do you pay up front, or on your way out? Is it truly a safe enviroment for the week? We usually stay in Elizabeth, and most recently stayed at the Embassy suites in Secaucus, but thought we would travel in the day of departure this time.

Thanks

Kris

FWIW - I just emailed the cruise terminal asking if I could use the 7 day coupon on and 8 day Gem sailing (May 30th), realizing that I would have to pay one extra day at full rate, and this is the response that I got:

"Sorry for the delayed response. Unfortunately the coupon does not apply to your sailing so you will not be able to use the coupon. Very sorry for the inconvenience."

Kindest Regards,

ANTHONY FABRE

Project Manager I Asset Management

New York City Economic Development Corporation

http://www.nycedc.com http://www.nycruise.com

I guess you could always try, but I would go being prepared to pay full fare in the event that it is not accepted. Good luck

I could be mistaken, but I just asked this question to a PCC earlier this week. I just booked a cruise for the end of May and have another 2 booked for December and March. She told me that I could purchase 2 Future Cruise Credits while on this May cruise and have them applied to my December and March cruises so long as they were not paid in full yet- which they are not. I was told that I would not have to cancel and then rebook the later cruises. This is the information that I was given, but perhaps someone with first hand experience could correct me if I was misinformed.

Kris

From Bermuda - try the Gosling's rum.

I will also be leaving on the Breakaway on Jan 18th and we are trying a new hotel this time around. We have always stayed in Elizabeth in the past, but this time we are going to try the Embassy Suites in Secaucus. It includes a night stay, parking for the entire cruise, and a shuttle to the port the day of the cruise. We will have to organize our own way back to the hotel upon return. Apparently, there is a bus stop right outside of the hotel that will take you to Penn Station, just a few blocks from Time Square, and we are going to try this on the Saturday afternoon after we arrive. The bus tickets are somewhere around $3-$4 each and I hear that it is quite possible to take a cab from the pier to Penn Station upon return, then jump on the bus for a ride back to the hotel. If we feel good about the bus on Saturday, we may try this option for getting back to the hotel on the 30th.

I just got off the phone with technical support because of the same problem. They need to break each of you into separate "households" which will allow you to enter each persons addresses separately. 1-866-625-1160 Good luck.

For what it's worth, the glitch with the entertainment booking option is also an issue for the January 18th sailing as well. My husband just spoke with NCL, and they were unable to provide any reasoning for the issue.